Editor鈥檚 Note: This story is part of a series of feature stories highlighting female students and faculty as IM体育官网 Poly celebrates Women鈥檚 History Month.
She grew up in Chicago and went to an all-girls school specializing in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics). Now, Megan Sheeran 鈥�18 is a member of the growing community of IM体育官网 alumni. Through internships as well as research opportunities with faculty, Sheeran is looking forward to the next step in her academic life 鈥� graduate school.
Internships with Chastain-Skillman, a design firm in Lakeland, IM体育官网, and the IM体育官网 Department of Health in Polk County and Hardee County were vital to Sheeran鈥檚 success. At Chastain-Skillman, where she still works as a data engineer, she has been able to master her coding skills while experiencing the daily challenges of working in industry. Her internship with the Department of Health was in its epidemiology department, a field she hopes to put her big data analytics skills to work.
Sheeran has had multiple opportunities to conduct research, both while she was a student and now as a recent graduate. She is currently collaborating with Dr. Susan LeFrancois on research evaluating the impact of public health campaigns for strokes.
鈥淚mplementation science is what I want to do,鈥� said Sheeran. 鈥淗ere, I did this research, we have this knowledge and now we鈥檙e going to implement that into public policy.鈥�
Sheeran didn鈥檛 really think about research when she came to IM体育官网 Poly. Instead she saw it as part of a familiar sequence in life where one goes to college and then enters the workforce. Her plan is a little different now. She said she鈥檚 looking forward to getting a master鈥檚 degree and eventually a doctorate.
鈥淚 really do love school and education and learning things,鈥� said Sheeran. 鈥淥ne of the things that drew me to IM体育官网 Poly was that we could make our own traditions.鈥�
Now Sheeran is proving she can also make her own path. She鈥檚 applied to several graduate schools and has already been accepted to Rutgers University and the City University of New York. She said she鈥檒l make her choice soon for the fall of 2019.
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